One Last Day in the Emerald City (May 22, 2015)

(Writing this post two days late. Between getting home late and driving for 11+ hours, I couldn't quite find time to get this written out! Finally settling down, so here I go!)
   Time is such a funny thing. Somehow it can feel like every day is just so long and full of things, but when you stop and look back at the week, you can't believe just how quickly it went by. I honestly cannot believe that I was just arriving at JT's house a few days ago! When Dom and I woke up to get ready for our final day of adventuring we both commented on the fact and compared it to the time we both spent in the MTC, and how every day is so jam packed and feels like an eternity by itself, but somehow the weeks continue to fly by.
   We had a pretty early start Friday morning as we both woke up and enjoyed yet another great continental breakfast. We then dashed out the door so that we could make it to Seattle and hopefully not have to deal with the traffic. Driving to and from the city can be quite interesting. One day it took us about 45 minutes just to get out of Seattle because traffic was just nuts. We made the poor decisions to leave or enter around rush hour.
   After finding some parking (another grand adventure in Seattle), we made our way over to the City Center. We still had three items to use on our Seattle City Pass and they were all located within the same little area. The crazy fun thing about Friday was that Seattle was just beginning its annual Folk Life Festival. While we had visited the City Center a few times previously, it felt completely different this day. There were booths that were set up everywhere selling different kinds of clothing, souvenirs, and various kinds of food! It really made me think of Camden Market in London. There were so many different cultures that were there selling wares or dishes from their countries! When we arrived it was still a little too early for the festival, so it wasn't quite in full swing yet.
   The first item on our agenda was to visit the Space Needle. We had actually been trying to get to the needle for a while, but something always came up. Though we had our City Passes, we still had to wait in line at the ticketing area to trade our pass coupon for an actual scheduled elevator ticket. Though the initial line to get tickets took quite some time, once we got it and went inside everything went pretty quickly. We breezed through security (which is easy when you don't have any bags) and then soon found ourselves on the elevator heading to the top of the needle. The view was fantastic and made even cooler because it was so open. There were railings and glass walls to keep people safe, but above a certain height it was a pretty unrestricted view. We wandered around the full circumference of the view deck snapping photos and staring at the city. I always love taking time to look at things like this from above. While everything seems so much smaller they also become brilliantly beautiful as well. We went inside and got some hot chocolate (of course Seattle would have a Starbucks at the top of their Space Needle) and enjoyed that while sitting at a cafe table. We also went down a floor so that we could look at the Space Needle Restaurant. The whole restaurant rotates around in a circle so that you can enjoy the view while eating. Dom and I opted not to eat there, as the cheapest thing on the menu was $29 (and those are lunch prices), but the staff was super friendly and let us walk around and look.

After a long wait, we finally got our tickets!

Enjoying the view. 

View selfie! 

Just a glimpse of what the Space Needle Restaurant looks like.

   By the time that we descended from the needle, the festival had entered full swing. Suddenly the square was packed with people that were moving from tent to tent, eager to see the different things that they could buy. It was also awesome because many different artists were invited to sing and perform, so there were musical acts everywhere. There were rock groups, orchestras, bands, and little mariachi bands as well. The atmosphere was so exciting, but we had things to do and two more exhibits to see! We enjoyed the sites briefly before making our way to the EMP Museum.

An awesome fountain right in the middle of the festival.

A glimpse at the booths available. 

  The EMP Museum (Experience Music Project Museum) is an incredible building dedicated to music as well as all things pop culture. The entire outside of the museum looks like it could be a work of art itself. I wasn't able to snap any photos that would do it justice, as the thing is gigantic. So I grabbed the image below off the internet (thank you Wikipedia).

  

   The museum was broken up into various exhibits that explored different aspects of pop culture. We began our tour at an exhibit dedicated to Science Fiction. They had so many awesome items taken from various science fiction films. They had props from Ghostbusters, Alien, Galaxy Quest, and Doctor Who! They also had fun interactive exhibits like an interactive spaceship experience where you try and get your spaceship home from space safely. It was a nerd's dream! Following that exhibit we toured the Horror and Fantasy sections. The horror one was fascinating and while it didn't have as many props or set pieces, it had a plethora of interactive stations that documented and explored the different traits of the horror genre. The exhibit following that was probably my favorite, as we made our way to the Fantasy section. The whole exhibit was made to feel like you had stepped into some mystical wood. It also featured some very amazing items, like original costumes from the Wizard of Oz (they had the Witch's actual hat!) as well as props from movies like Harry Potter and The Chronicles of Narnia, and others from shows like Game of Thrones. I'm glad that Dom can be just as nerdy as me, because it makes me feel less guilty about geeking out over these sort of things.

A tower of guitars at the EMP, because why not? 

A Dalek from Doctor Who!

A Cyberman, also from Doctor Who!                   The actual hat worn by the Wicked Witch!

   After we finished up our time at the movie/television part of the museum, we went over and visited the music portion. They had an entire exhibit dedicated to Nirvana, with instruments and pieces of original sheet music from the band! There was also an entire series of rooms dedicated to different musical instruments where you could take quick mini lessons about how to play various instruments. We stopped in some practice rooms and learned about synthesizing music, playing drums, and piano basics. The amount of stuff available was mind boggling! Unfortunately we only have so much time and we had to continue on our way.
   We stopped by the festival so that we could enjoy some music and get some food. After wandering around for a bit, Dom and I purchased some food from a Chinese booth. I got some delicious pork fried rice that we ate while watching a local high school orchestra perform. We then went to the main yard where we sat on the grass to listen to a band play some pretty impressive music. I was so amazed at the crowd of people there, and just how diverse everyone was. Behind us were a bunch of teenagers dressed in stereotypical punk fashion. They were all smoking something that smelled quite sweet.....To our right was an elderly couple who were all smiles. Just down from them was a Chinese family that was trying to communicate with the black couple sitting on a bench next to them. We were all so different, but came together to enjoy a fun environment of art and food.
   We tore ourselves away from the festival to visit the Chihuly Garden and Glass museum. It was the final item on our City Pass. I had never heard of the museum, but was blown away by the art that was featured there. The entire exhibit featured glass work by Dale Chihuly. He works with blown glass to create fantastic sculptures that feature some incredible colors. The entire exhibit was dedicated to his works and had so many to seen. I was just in awe the entire time. It's times like this that I am grateful for things like the Seattle City Pass, as they can sometimes introduce you to things that you did not realize even existed. I've included some photos below of his fantastic works:

The yellowish-green tower on the left is also glass. 

   By this point in the day Dom and I were both exhausted. We decided to make our way back to the hotel so that we could rest up before returning in the evening. I snuck in a nap while Dom went to the pool. The respite was needed and went by very quickly before we hopped back into things.
   For dinner we went to a little place called the Pike Place Bar and Grill. It was a pretty inexpensive eat that was just a little diner, but it is pretty well known for its location right next to/above Pike Place Market. Since it was the evening, most of the market was closed down for the night, but we still got to enjoy a nice view while eating some pretty solid food. Dom finally ordered some of the famous Seattle fish...and I enjoyed not eating any fish. I'm a turd.
   When night came we made our way back to the Space Needle. Our passes allowed us two different visits within the space of 24 hours. They do that so you have the opportunity to see the city at night and during the day. The Folk Life Festival was just winding down so the traffic was a little bonkers, but we were able to find a parking spot and made our way to the needle, which was surprisingly deserted, at least on the ground. We quickly made it to the top of the needle, where we discovered a local high school was actually holding its prom! That was quite a surprise. The actual dance was taking place on a different floor below the observation deck, but there were still nicely dressed high schoolers walking around. It made the needle a little crowded, but that didn't prevent us from enjoying the incredible view once more. While we were looking out at the bay, I actually witnessed a man propose to his girlfriend! I was sitting there freaking out...and Dom was completely unimpressed. Haha. On our way up the elevator our guide told us that the building that they use for establishing shots in the show, Grey's Anatomy, could be seen from the Needle. Dom, who loves the show, took it upon himself to find that building! He would not be distracted by silly things like proposals! What a funny guy! Fortunately he found the building and took some photos, so it all worked out in the end. Though we wished we could have stayed up there forever, we eventually came back down to earth and made our way back to the hotel.

Free photo taken (and edited) by the Space Needle crew. 

Free photo from the observation deck...not sure why my face is partially transparent though

   I am continually blown away by the many beautiful places that exist in this world. The more I travel the more I come to appreciate both the natural and man made beauties that are out there. Seattle sits next to a beautiful ocean and has fantastic greenery, but also demonstrates some of the amazing architecture and art that can be made by man. This world is amazing! I also was so impressed by all the people that I met here. All the employees, from those that worked on tour boats or restaurants to those who served fine dinners in the Space Needle were incredibly kind and helpful. I can't help but smile when I think about the kindness that was shown by so many people.
   I'm grateful for the opportunity to expand my horizons even further and come to appreciate the differences as well as the similarities that different places and peoples have.

  Thank you Seattle!